Redemption
by popprincess.57
Summary: When you open yourself up to love, there is always room to hate. Sakura must figure out how to forgive, and they must learn how to redeem themselves.
1. Chapter 1

_Redemption_

I was walking from the hospital after two shifts of work when I felt a shiver of chakra race through the air. It rumbled across the earth, tingling up my legs as I braced them for balance. The pressure of the chakra was eminent, strong like the force of oceanic waves. It expanded, curling onto everything that crossed its path.

I smelled burnt hair and felt a stinging all over my skin. Looking down, I saw the chakra eating away at my skin and hair like acid. I hissed, jumping to a roof top nearby. The chakra wasn't as bad there, and the pain lessened.

People around me were just as anxious and frightened as I was, ninja and civilians alike. They ran away, or stood petrified with wide doe eyes. Some looked to others with questioning gazes, or into the distance to try to figure where the raw power was coming from.

A chunin hopped to my position on the roof, out of breath. "Lady Sakura, what is this?"

I glanced at him, and then to my surroundings. The village itself wasn't where this queer chakra generated from...and it also wasn't the cliffs of the Hokages that caused this. My eyes narrowed, sensing greater power from the forest beyond the main gates.

"outside the village, in the forests."

A split second passed, and then everything exploded.

Rays of pink and blue light blasted into the Heavens from a point in the forests, blinding anyone who looked at them. I turned my eyes away with a shielding, glove-cladded, hand. Noise filled the gaps of time, just as chakra erupted. My ears ached, and a blast of wind and power knocked me straight off my feet.

Struggling to get off the ground, I shouted to the Chunin to inform the Hokage of what was witnessed here, although I highly doubt she didn't see it herself. I gathered a bit of chakra to my feet, jumped to the ground, not taking even a second to pause as I raced in the direction that the explosion came from.

It was a strange feeling, running in the ruckus. The entire village vibrated from what just happened, and I felt every single vibration throughout my body as I ran, until my heart pulsed in time with the earth beneath me.

I spotted a golden ponytail swinging ahead of me. "Ino!" I called, pushing my legs harder until I caught up with her. We kept pace with each other as we raced out of the village gates.

"You saw that too, right?" She asked.

I nodded. "who do you think caused it? I've never seen anything like that before, not even from when Akatsuki attacked the village."

She shook her head, and I could see the worry flash in her eyes. "I don't know. But we're going to find out, and stop whatever, or whoever, it is."

About six kilometers away from the village, the acrid smell of smoke filled our lungs. We stopped, breathless and coughing. "We...must...be getting...close," I hacked, barely able to whisper to Ino. Smog drifted into our sight, choking out all breathable air. We ripped parts of our clothes to tie over our noses and mouths. If only we had something to protect our streaming eyes, but that wasn't not our biggest priority at the moment.

We couldn't see even three feet ahead of us, but I could only imagine how the trees and shrubs were transformed into black stubs of ash. We moved in with caution, on guard for any possible ambush that might be awaiting us. The smoke thickened, and the ground became unlevel, causing us to move even slower.

We finally reached it, the only indictor was the sharp swoop the ground went into. Ino possesses Wind Style, and so she was able to construct a jutsu to blast away all the smoke and ash.

If only she hadn't.

What we saw made me pray for the smoke to whoosh back, no matter the tearing eyes and the choking lungs.

Anything would have been better than what lay before us.

_Poprincess.57_


	2. Chapter 2

_Redemption_

I didn't look at Ino, but I didn't have to look at her to know that the contours of her face were etched in horror. My face was the exact mirror image of her own.

She began to sob.

I refused to. I could understand _why _she, of all people, would start to crack upon looking at this. When Sasuke left the village, everyone felt it, the pain. I even felt it, probably more than some people, and probably in equal amounts as Ino because both of us had fallen for him. She always tried to play it off as the years progressed, that she never cared. But I could always tell that she did. Every time his name was mentioned, her eyes would turn downcast, and the sorrow in them radiated out like the searching brightness of a lighthouse.

After a while, I wasn't faking it anymore that I didn't care. I mean, of course those times when we _did_ see him, my team and I, I cared. I wanted to save him. So, oh so, bad. I would have given my life for him. But then, around the time I was seventeen, I stopped. Stopped caring, stopped wondering where he was, or how he was, or who he was with. You could call it giving up, but I just called it accepting reality. Because in reality, he wasn't going to come back. In reality, I thought I would never see him again in my lifetime.

Kami, had I ever been more wrong in my life?

I took a step forward, while Ino began hyperventilating. "Ino," I said. I wasn't going to face her, because I was scared that if I did I would succumb to the same hysteria. "Please turn around, and run to get help."

I was positive that other ninja would come relatively soon, they'd be positively oblivious and stupid if they hadn't seen the explosion. I only told her to get help so that she wouldn't have to be here any longer. Any longer, and I would be scared that she would have a stroke.

She only continued to sob. I turned around sharply. "Ino! Run. Get help."

I didn't think it possible for her shrill cries to get louder but they did.

I strode over and slapped her, hard, across the face. Finally, she quieted. "You are not the only person affected by this. Stop crying, and run for help, damn it!"

Her shocked eyes managed to register my order, for after a second of silence, she turned from me and began walking away, running only after she made it to the top of the steep crater.

I sighed, biting my lip. _God, I only hope she doesn't come back..._

Turning around, I ran to the Uchiha's side, the ash and used-to-be forest crunching softly under my feet. I took my cloves off, to get better access to his body.

Quickly, I made an assessment of his vitals. He was breathing, but only barely enough to sustain his broken body. My hands glowed green on his chest, and chakra flowed from me to him, not healing but doing a complete body scan.

Both his Femur and Tibia were shattered in his left leg, his Humerus on his right arm was fractured, and his Mandible suffered from a slight fracture. Three ribs were broken, he had internal bleeding in several locations of his body, some more severe than others. He overused his Mangekyo Sharingan, and his body obtained three-degree burns everywhere. On top of that he had small cuts and bruises all over his face and torso.

Kami. How was he still alive?

The sun, which was before hiding behind a nasty set of clouds, came out. Everything brightened and the dull colors transformed to different and lighter shades. A few rays hit Sasuke square in the chest. The stygian color became a charcoal, and the pain must have been excruciating because he arched his back and groaned. His fingers clawed at the earth, and began bleeding. His eyes squinted open.

If I hadn't recognized his clothing...I wouldn't have known who he was. His face, his body, was unrecognizable. He looked, strangely, like a monster.

I didn't move him out of the sun. The battle left no shade. But if there had been, would I have moved him? Or would I have left him there to suffer?

I probably would have moved him, out of guilt.

Ninja began entering the scene, and Ino - unfortunately - came with them. She stayed on the outskirts, thank Kami, sitting on a fallen tree with her head in her hands.

"Why did you let her come?" I asked Shikamaru as he whistled at the sight of everything, particularly Sasuke Uchiha.

"Was I not supposed to let her come?"

I smacked my forehead in aggravation, taking his chin roughly in my hand and turning it to look at Ino. "Can't you see the grief in her? It was not a good idea letting her come back!"

He shrugged it off, that bastard. But then again, so did I. We had more important things to worry about. Like what we were going to do with the Uchiha, and discovering what exactly happened to cause the battle.

Shizune walked up with a team of medic-ninja. "You were the first here, Sakura. Have you analyzed his body?" She nodded towards Sasuke, indicating who she was talking about.

Anbu black ops surrounded the area, regulating who entered and who exited. Kakashi and Ibiki searched the place with scent hounds.

I nodded, and reported all of the information I had gathered. When I was finished I asked them where Lady Hokage was. "You would think that she would come to give out orders?"

"She was going to," Shizune said while simultaneously copying down all that I reported about Sasuke's health onto a clip board. Looking at the medic team, she ordered them to take his body back to the village hospital to be examined and treated.

She sighed as they left with him on a stretcher. Ninja along the way gaped at his mangled body. "I wish she was here just as much as you do, and she feels equally as frustrated as us. But when the explosion happened she was in a meeting, and then she had about fifty - no lie - mission reports to go through. She sent out teams of ninja instead, with captains. Each captain is in charge of a certain aspect of this investigation. "

I nodded, fully aware already of the teams and captains. But it was still good to hear her confirm all of my worries about what was going on.

"Right now we have investigators collecting evidence to figure out what happened, and who his apponent was," she explained further. "And we al -"

Kakashi's dogs interrupted her as they went ballistic, some howling and some running in a crazed fashion to a boulder that sat towards the very back left of the crater.

We gave each other quizzical glances before running over, stopping at what we found in front of us.

Another body.

Shikamaru came up behind me as Shizune called in for another medic team on her earpiece. "So this must be who Uchiha fought," Shika said.

I nodded. It seems I've been doing a lot of that lately.

Shizune told me to report this news to Tsunade. I sent out a message using Kiki, my summons animal. She quickly left, the white of her back contrasting sharply with the black earth. Ino shivered as Kiki passed by her, always the one to be frightened of slugs. But then again, I was too before Tsunade got me used to them.

I turned back to the body, noticing the shallow breaths it took in. "Who is it?"

Shizune shook her head. "No idea."

The medic team arrived fast, faster than normal. She saw them approach.

She turned back to me. "But I guess we're going to find out."

_Popprincess.57_


	3. Chapter 3

_Redemption_

* * *

Sunlight began to dwindle, the bright orb that lit the earth disappearing beneath the horizon. This was the moment when I decided to take my leave from the crater, and the investigation. There was no more for me to do. I had already helped as much as I could with everything. After Sasuke and the mysterious person who was his opponent had been evacuated, I brain stormed with Kakashi and Shikamaru, and a whole team of Intel-ninja on all of the different scenarios that could have taken place.

Who was Sasuke fighting? What techniques did they use? Why and how did the fight take place? What were their motives? These were all questions we asked ourselves, and each other. I helped search for environmental clues to discover answers to these questions, and when that was done, I left. There was nothing else I _could_ do, and I doubt that anyone else could do something useful at the moment either, besides standing there thinking. (Which isn't useful _at all._ But hey, I'm not going to tell them that.)

I stretched, yawning tiredly. One long, draining, day. Just what I needed.

But what I _really_ needed right then was a steaming cup of coffee.

As I was walking out I saw that Ino was still sitting on the fallen tree, in the same position as before. "Ino," I said, walking quickly up to her.

When she didn't answer me I thought that she was still in shock, but upon walking closer I noticed that her breathing was more even, and her eyes shut in peaceful sleep.

I bent down and placed my hands under her arms to gain leverage, and with a twist of strength caused by chakra I gently hiked her over my shoulder.

The sun sank lower in the sky, and everything began to dim out. Funny. Was it just a coincidence that the earth perfectly corresponded with that of our hearts? Or did the grey dimness have some sort of meaning to it? Why become dank and grey on this day of all days?

Everything was silent. Utterly still. Even the ever present wind expressed its absence with a red flag. When the explosion occurred, all of the trees and forestry had been obliterated from the universe. It was strange to have only me and Ino traversing on this land, when we were the only things vertically upright.

It was comical to watch my feet as I walked. My boots were enthralling to gaze at, the way they would plant themselves in the ashy earth. It was soft and grey, and every time my boot connected with it, dust would shoot into the air like a fish out of water, swirling grey dust upon grey earth, upon grey lighting. Even my hands, when glancing at the scarred beauties, were a light shade of grey-ish white.

Magical, the way that things could appear after disasters. I almost felt like I was in a different world.

I changed Ino into a pair of night clothes, and tucked her into bed the way any long time friend would do. She would have done it for me, and had done it before in the past when the situations and nightly events called for it. I left a glass of water by her bedside, and a note to explain to her how she got in her bed safely for when she woke up confused the next morning.

The streets were loud. My ears were aching from the crazed shrieks of children chasing each other with toy Shuriken. Giving up ten miles from my apartment, I constructed a teleportation jutsu, poofing into my living room in a hurl of smoke. I startled Mr. Shickers, my annoying cat, away from the fish bowl.

He yowled, throwing himself away from the fish and at my head. I ducked at the last minute, leaving him sprawled out on the floor, confused. "Shickers!" I scowled him as I kicked off my boots and jumped out of my clothes. "Knock it off you stupid wild cat!"

(He _was _part wild. I found him in the desert of Suna when I was on a mission three years ago. He was just a kitten. A poacher killed his mother and left him in the sun to die, but I rescued him...Not fully understanding how much work that he would be years to come.)

"I had a horrible day, so I'm not in the mood to play your games tonight." That's what he does, every time I come home. He looks at me with his bright orange eyes and pounces.

I brushed my teethe and drank a glass of water after stuffing my face with a protein bar. As I walked to my bed, my foot landed on something squishy and wet. Looking down, my face heated. "Shickers! Stop fucking eating all of the _god damn _fish!"

He looked at me sweetly and purred. I ignored him and the fish, shaking off my contaminated foot before falling into my pillows.

My eyes closed and I fell asleep instantly.

* * *

I heard a flutter at my window. Face still pressed against my sheets, I slid the Kunai out from underneath my pillow stealthily and flung it at the wall, hearing a thunk and a hiss.

I raised my head. "Ah, Kakashi. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"

He sucked his thumb, where the blade of the Kunai barely licked it as it flew past him. "You shouldn't be so paranoid," was his retort. "I almost didn't get out of the way in time!"

I slowly got up and plucked the weapon out of the wall.

He shook his head. "All the way to the hilt of the blade. And now you have to fix a hole in your wall."

I used a bit of...creative vocabulary, and Kakashi quickly switched the topics to the situation involving Uchiha Sasuke.

"He's in recovery, but is still unconscious," He told me as he went over and sat on my bed.

I nodded, and went over to my closet, shutting the door as I swiftly changed into some decent clothing. "But what will the Hokage do when he's fully recovered?" I asked, walking back out to see him lounging on my pillows, reading his smutty orange book.

"Typical Kakashi," I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

He glanced up, letting me know with his dark brown eyes that he caught what I said. I shrugged, silently telling him to continue. "I don't know," he drawled out, stroking his masked chin. "But we'll find out soon enough. I'm supposed to bring you to the Hokage tower, so we - "

"Kakashi! You just now decided to relay this information? Why are you lazing around my apartment? Let's get a move on here!"

I grabbed his Jonin vest and pulled him out of the room, hastily telling him to watch his step when he almost squished the fish. He gave me a quizzical look, but I shook my head, telling him to just drop it. He shrugged, and we jumped roof tops to reach the tower.

"You're late! Hatake...I told you to bring her_ immediately. _What took so long?" She never glanced up from the scroll she was working on, her previous scowl deepening when she spoke to him.

I climbed through the window, and Kakashi continued leaning up against the frame from the outside. His nose scrunched up, the way it usually did when he was faced with an accusation. His eyes tilted up to the sky. "You see, Lady Hokage, me and Sakura...we got hung up on a certain matter."

"Oh really," she said, venom dripping off her tongue, a viper readying for attack. "You do know the rules about students having affairs with their teachers, Hatake, am I correct?"

His eyebrow twitched, and an unreadable expression crossed his face. My mouth gaped in horror, color rising to my cheeks. "Tsu-tsunade! Gah! You - and, I mean I would never!" I stomped my foot in agitation. A resounding snap, like the crack of a whip, was the sound of the wooden floor cracking under my boot. Both Tsunade's eyes as well as Kakashi's flashed.

"Oh, whatever," I said curtly. "Like you've never broken anything in your anger, Tsuande?" My sarcasm had all three of us reflecting on all of the desks Tsunade had gone through in her reining years as Hokage. "Besides, me and Kakashi are only friends, teammates! Nothing more than that, I assure you! Now let's discuss more urgent and important things here, please!"

A loud crash and shouts could be heard from the other room. The doorknob twisted and clicked, the door flung to the wall, forgotten in _his_ haste. _Damn_, I thought. _I forgot all about him, because he was on a three week mission. How did he find out about this? And so quick?_

"Is he really here?"

Tsunade sighed. "Naruto... you abandoned your mission?"

He flicked his wrist with barely contained anxiety, a mission report landing in front of Tsunade. "Finished early. Where is he? Is he...alright?"

The hokage planted her elbows on the dark brown oak desk, lacing her fingers and resting her chin on them. "Sakura, Hatake, leave us for a few minutes. In fact, report to Shizune; she'll fill you two in on what's to be done. Naruto and I need to discuss a few things."

I nodded curtly, and turned to leave. I tried not to make eye contact with Naruto. I don't know why, but he scared me right then. Maybe because I didn't feel the same as him about Sasuke, in fact having the total opposite feelings. Or maybe it was because he thought that I felt the same as him and I was scared that if he saw me, looked into my eyes, that he would discover how I really felt, and would resent me for it. Either way, I was a coward.

I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath until I shut the door behind me and Kakshi. "You alright," he asked, concerned.

I nodded that I was fine, and we continued on our way, stopping a woman we passed by and asking her is she knew where Shizune was at the moment. She pointed her long nails in the direction of the East wing, the Intel. unit.

"Shizune," I called when I spotted her walking with her head turned away from us in the corridor. She stopped, startled, and waited for us to catch up.

Kakashi shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning back slightly when he walked. He gave off the impression that we were just taking a casual stroll. "Tsunade sent us to you, so you could explain everything."

Her mouth turned down. "But I thought..."

"Naruto," was all it took for Shizune to understand what happened. The entire village knew how Naruto felt when it came to Sasuke, so of course Shizune would understand.

"So he's back," she murmured, stopping for a minute to contemplate this new found information.

I waved everything "Naruto" away. "So tell us what has newly been discovered," I demanded in a light tone, as if Shizune and I were merely discussing our favorite nail polish.

"Sasuke is stable, if incredibly wounded, but you already know that." We entered a room where Shikamaru, Ibiki, and Inoichi sat at a table, heads bent together over files and paperwork. I greeted them, as did Kakashi, before Shizune continued.

"We've been keeping his opponent's body stable as well as analyzing it. After gathering enough data from his body we discovered his identity. You're never going to guess who he is! This discovery shocked everyone, and seems almost impossible that it happened!"

Ibiki looked up, his face expressing how tired he was, although his voice spoke otherwise. "Just tell them Shizune. It's not like we have all day. We need these two to help us once you're through with them."

"Everyone thought he was dead before, but apparently he's still alive. Although barely alive, at that..."

Kakashi beat me to it when it came to prompting her to continue. She took a breath, and when she let out the name I almost laughed, I was so shocked.

"Deidara."

* * *

Author's note:

It seems that Sakura is so depressing, am I right? Awww, but no worries. She'll come around for all of us. (Most particularly Diedara!)

* * *

_Popprincess.57_


	4. Chapter 4

_Redemption_

* * *

"So what should we do about this?"

A young Chunin piped up from the back when a moment of quiet was finally trailing across the room. Every head turned in the direction of the timid voice, some curious as to if the Chunin would care to speak more, and others scolding as to why she would say something that unintelligent.

"Well, why do you think we're sitting here?" Shikamaru mumbled next to me with his hand slapped across his face. I was glad that the young girl couldn't hear him being smart, because he had been acting like a complete ass this entire night.

"Stop it, Shika!" I whispered into his ear with a tight lip, absolutely sure that my eyebrow was twitching in annoyance. My vocal chords rubbed hard against each other, my tiredness causing my voice to be scratchy. We had been in this meeting for two hours. At first people were barely able to come up with ideas on how to solve our troubles; the Hokage was busy with other things, and she couldn't attend the meeting. Half the people at the meeting were dead tired, causing it to be an annoying, to say the least, environment.

Then coffee entered the picture when that Chunin who spoke came in with two others, along with the Hokage. Tsunade took control and the Chunin and her friends have been quietly sitting at the back of the room, listening. Until now, that is.

Shikamaru grunted, and he gulped down some more coffee before getting up to refill his cup. A blonde Jonin across the table from me glared at the young Chunin and spoke above all the other voices.

"Why are they here, Lady Hokage?"

Tsunade closed her eyes. The room was suspended in quiet stillness, and then everything erupted.

With a pound to the table from her fair fist, Tsunade jumped up. Fire gleamed in her eyes. "Everyone out! Get out now!"

Chairs squealed like a mare in heat, the people frightened by this sudden outburst from their confident leader.

"Sakura, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Ibiki. Stay seated."

I got back in my seat, moving around to get comfortable in the hard wood. When everyone got settled again and the last person shut the office door behind them, Tsunade spoke to Shizune, mumbling what I vaguely heard to be an order to get Naruto in the vicinity.

Shizune left, clutching her little pig to her chest, and then Tsunade addressed us.

"You all are well aware that Deidara was Sasuke Uchiha's opponent, and you should all know if you don't already that he is an S-ranked missing ninja, a member of the Akatsuki organization."

We nodded, each and every one of us perfectly aware of who Deidara was. We were all involved with fighting Akatsuki at one point or another in our lives, some of us fighting them more than others did. I could even recall the memory of challenging Sasori, Deidara's old partner, years ago. It seemed like it was a lifetime's past that I defeated him with the help of an old Suna veteran.

Naruto entered the room, and he almost spoke but Shizune layed a hand on his shoulder and he startled before closing his mouth and sitting down.

She continued to lay out her plan of action. "We will allow him to recover enough so he is conscience. Shizune, you and a team of medics will be in charge of keeping his health up. Use chakra to speed up the process, and keep his personal supply of chakra drained completely. At all times."

She looked to Shizune, who stood at the opposite end of the table near a chair. If you think about it, the woman never sits, ever, in a chair. Not even now, when she's supposed to be. Shizune nodded and finished documenting the orders.

"Assign an Anbu team to surround the area, and have at least two kept stationed inside the medical room. Whenever he is recovered enough we will assign two Anbu teams to escort him to the Interrogation and Torture unit, where he will be kept."

Naruto raised his hand slightly, halting any further instruction from Tsunade. "He will be kept in a cell, in the Interrogation unit?"

She nodded, and a silent conversation passed between them before she continued. I looked at Shikamaru, raising my eyebrows at him in question to what both of us just witnessed. He shrugged, just as curious as me but still unknowing.

He took his pen and scrawled on his paper, giving it a tap, telling me to look at it.

_Probably something to do with Sasuke. It's too troublesome to worry about, so let's just drop it._

I nodded, understanding.

"Ibiki, you and your team of Torture and Interrogation ninja, along with Hatake, will question Deidara continually. You _will _discover what happened between him and the Uchiha, and you will also find out any Akatsuki information possible."

She layed her hands flat against the table, standing with her legs spread out before it. "Sakura, this is where you will come into play. You are more than capable to be the medical ninja of Ibiki's team. You will do everything he orders, whenever he needs your assistance. Your main focus is to keep Deidara alive when Ibiki is forced to use torture to get the information out of him."

I nodded, my expression determined. I was determined, but there was a feeling inside me, a little voice that kept insisting this role I played would lead me to end up in a bad position. _Oh Kami, _I thought. _I have a horrible feeling about this. _I took a deep breath in.

"Hai," I breathed out.

She nodded back in return and turned to the group as a whole, addressing them. "Now, does everybody understand their positions?"

Everyone gave the thumbs up, besides Naruto who sat with a quiet mouth, for once in his life.

"Good. We will discuss the plan for Sasuke Uchiha tomorrow at noon. It will take place in the same meeting room we're in now. Don't be late." Her eyes landed on Hatake, when she commanded the last sentence.

With a final look around the room, she called out with a wave of her arm, "Dismissed!"

* * *

"Sakura!"

I cringed, almost, at the desperate baritone. Forced to stop, I waited for him to catch up.

"Hey...Naruto," I mumbled to him as the wind blew my hair out of the loose braid I swept it into earlier. I could see the pink strands in my peripheral vision, swaying around my hips in the cool breeze. I could also see him, the way his bright blue eyes never left my face.

"Why, why did you leave so quickly?" He kept perfect pace with me, his step thumping along to the beat of mine, until our footsteps could be heard as simultaneous.

"What do you mean?" I asked sweetly, calmly. See, that was the only way I could act. Pretending to be innocent was better than expressing my true feelings.

"You practically bolted out of the the meeting, and you wouldn't even look at me earlier today when I entered Tsunade's office."

Damn. So he caught onto that too. I sighed in cowardice.

"Naruto," I said quietly,_ still_ not meeting his eyes. "What do you want?"

He stopped, slightly taken aback by my abrupt question and how rude it sounded even to my ears. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, "nothing, absolutely nothing."

I kept walking, never stopping to wait for him. But that didn't matter. He managed to catch up. We kept pace once again.

"I just don't understand... Is this because of Sasuke? Is that why you're acting strange?"

How annoying he was, like a buzzing fly that never left you alone, but you could never manage to kill no matter how many times you swat it away.

"Naruto! Just stop, okay? Please, just knock it off." I couldn't help but snap out at him, like a snarling dog, with my jaw clenched.

But he did deserve an explanation, so I took the time to tell him a little of what was going on inside of me.

"I just don't feel the same way as you do about Sasuke being back, okay?"

"What do you mean by not feeling the same way?"

He just had to make this even more difficult than it already was. I felt like no matter what I said he wouldn't stop questioning me. I could almost sympathsize with Deidara, because I knew that he would also be interrogated like I was being just then.

I spoke slow, trying hard to express my feelings, and also trying to get him to understand where I came from. "You, even Ino. You both are happy for him to be back in Kohona. You're even scared for his health and safety, and scared about what's going to happen to him in the near future. But me, I just don't care anymore. I gave up, Naruto. I gave up on him a long time ago, and I don't think I can ever feel for him what I used to feel."

This time, when he stopped, he didn't try running to keep up with me. And I never looked back as I walked away from him.

* * *

The the next two weeks I tried to spend as much time in the hospital as possible. I wanted to avoid Naruto at all costs. I couldn't face him after that lonely night, when I knew the stuff I said changed everything between us. He discovered my secret, my true feelings for Sasuke, and would probably hold them against me. I also wanted to stay clear of Ino, she being just as bad, if not worse, than that blonde knuckle-head.

I worked double, even triple shifts almost every day, and when I wasn't working in the hospital I was spending time training.

Tsunade told us that we would wait for Sasuke to become healthier, so we could hear his version of the battle he fought in. She also wanted to hear from him whether or not he wanted to stay in Kohona. If he answered yes then they would negotiate how to let him stay, the punishments of his absence and crimes, and all the details in between.

If he answered no...well, let's just not go there for now.

I was in a training arena late one night with Lee, working on my Taijutsu. Lee and me have been practicing Taijutsu together for years, and he had already perfected his and become a master at it when we had first started training together. I had mine mastered by the time I turned eightneen, which was two years ago.

It was exhilerating to move in the forms, the techniques. My arms swept through the air and my legs kicked out in a deadly sequence of blurry motion. Both of us moved fast, and that was us _with_ our weights on. When the weights left our bodies, we were so quick our forms couldn't be seen by a regular eye.

But Lee was way quicker than me, and always would be. He was the Taijutsu master. He would always be the best.

He lunged and his arm caught me in the chest, throwing me back in the air about two yards. I flipped my body backwards in the air and landed on my feet swiftly, kicking up dust as I ran and attacked him with equal force.

Our battle lasted about an hour longer until an Anbu ninja came and delivered a message to me from the Hokage.

"This late?" I asked, wondering why on earth Tsunade was up at this hour of the night. She usually passes out drunk by this time.

I nodded at the Anbu ninja, not knowing for the life of me whether it was a man, or a woman. He, or she, left as silent as the night.

I said good bye to Lee, and I told him that I would see him later. He waved enthusiastically at me before continuing with his exercises. I shook my head in amusement. Typical Lee.

Back at my house, Shickers was asleep on the counter, having eaten all of the food I'd layed out for him. Which was a lot.

He purred when I touched his head, and purred louder when I scratched in that one spot that he adored to be scratched at behind his ears. He even followed me to my room, lightly jumping up on the bed when I changed into some sleeping pants and one of Kakashi's old shirts.

The note lay next to Shickers, and I picked it up and opened it when I hopped under the covers. He curled up under them with me, laying at my feet and keeping them warm.

_Sasuke, along with Deidara are recovering quickly. Quicker than I expected. _

_If not for our help it would take the next month to be at full recovery, but our assistance has sped up the process. In one to two weeks they will be restored. Restored not to full power. (We are draining their chakra steadily.) But, they will be restored in the sense that they will be able to walk, talk, use the restroom on their own._

_As for now, both can open their eyes, and visibly understand what we say to them, although both are visibly not happy with what conditions they are in. (And Deidara will be even more unsettled later on.)_

_Be ready for your regular missions to stop, because soon you will be needed. You may continue with your training and hospital shifts. I will call you when you will be needed,_

_Tsuande._

_Lady Hokage. _

"So the time is getting near," I said to shickers, who popped his head out of the blanket next to me, his bright eyes glowing in the darkness of the night. I closed my eyes, and began petting him as I lay there thinking myself to sleep.

"I really do have a bad feeling about this, about what's to come," I mumbled, before losing conscienceness.

* * *

_Popprincess.57_

_Just to make it clear, Sakura is twenty years old, and this story takes place after the Akatsuki attack Kohona. But some of the characters who died in the battle are still living in my story, as you can read above._


	5. Chapter 5

_Redemption_

* * *

The next couple of days I was completely on edge. They were healing quick, like really and truely fast. I hadn't ever seen anyone heal from such extensive injuries in such a short amount of time. Believe me, I've seen some pretty impossible medical miracles before, including the one experience I had in watching the life of Gaara of the Sand being sucked out of him, and then later for him to be revived.

I shook my head. _Ack! Deidara was a part of that...Deidara..._

I'd thought we would have more time, that I would have more time. I wanted to prepare myself for what I would take part in, before going into it. I was scared. Yes, I'm a ninja, so I should put my emotions aside and follow orders as is written as a rule in the handbook, but I couldn't help my feelings. Honestly, could anyone when faced with the task of healing a human being just to have them tortured again, and again?

But to think, that they had those men at the stage where they were able to walk, now that was something I had trouble wrapping my head around. They must have been on some extreme meds, and they probably had some very skiled teams pumping chakra into their bodies. And if that was happening...that wouldn't exactly be _good_ for the men.

My shift at the hospital that night was busy. The moment I walked through the doors I was assaulted with aching and injured bodies. I had only time to stuggle into a pair of surgical gloves, not even thinking to dawn a pair of scrubs, before leaping into the throng of bodies that needed my aid.

"Lady Sakura! I need your assistence!"

"There are too many patients!"

"How do we go about healing all of them! There aren't that many on tonight's night shift!"

"With this many people, we're bound to miss some of the patients, what do we do?"

Questions, complaints, comments. They were all thrown at me within minutes. I hadn't even worked my way through my second patient without the nurses and doctors on staff hounding me. Where was Shizune? And Tsunade? Why wasn't anyone else around to help out? I straightened my shoulders, and lifted my chin. A chunin struggling to heal a fractured leg caught my eye and stumbled back. I guess maybe she could see the determination flashing through them?

There was so much noise, and so many people crowded in the room and hallway that I felt like I couldn't breath. I could feel the beads of sweat melt down my face, pooling to the edge of my jaw and pausing as if they were frightened of the air born state they enter when they eventually fell from my face. I pumped my fist against the receptionist's counter, and the already frazzled woman with bouncy curls scrambled out of my way when she saw my clenched fingers descending.

"Everyone be quiet!" I bellowed in my most authoritarian voice, the perfect imitation of Lady Tsunade. All those years of flanking her side silently awaiting orders had paid off.

Slowly, the staff stopped working, and the patients who were still able to function and were fully conscience, or at least half conscience, looked my way with pain-teared eyes.

I turned to a med-nin I recognized. "Chonin," I said, and felt relieved when I got the man's name correct. I'd seen him quite a few times in the hospital, and noted that he worked hard and with a care of efficiency. I called over the rest of the staff, and made it clear that he would be my second in charge. I talked briskly, not repeating only if I had to, trying to be as quick as possible so we could begin the treatment.

"Patients in need of critical medical attention will be marked in red. Take them to the northern ward. Intermediate injuries will be marked in blue and taken to the western ward. Mild ailments will be marked in yellow, and be moved to the southern ward."

I told them the rules, all of which they knew. Work with care, but fast. Try not to let anyone die, and if the patient did die on you - Sometimes it couldn't be helped. - don't take it too personally and don't blame yourself, because you tried to save the life as best as you could.

"Keep a level head, people. If you stop checking information clipboards that could be fatal to the patient. Don't screw up medications. Take soldier pills if you have to, but if you feel like you can't work anymore then don't be hesitant to stop and breath!"

I assigned three top notch medics to each ward, and gave them teams of five, which included the captain. But the fatally wounded would need more help so I gave them an extra person. Everyone began moving out to the assigned sections, and I saw the receptionist conversing with Chonin, who I assigned with the fatally wounded. She threw him a tube of red lipstick, and he hastily ran around the room marking foreheads. I nodded to myself in approval, and walked over to the receptionist myself.

"How many people do you have working behind those desks?" I asked, looking past her to see forms flitting around with paperwork in hand. No doubt some would be in the break room.

"Six," she replied.

I thought for a split second. "Give me two of them to run to the basement supply room and start pulling things we'll need, and delivering them to each ward," I ordered, biting my lip. "The rest keep here and don't let them stop filing patient information until their fingers cramp, and even then keep them working. Oh! And send them to the assigned wards, so they can be stationed at the desks in those areas so we can save time on transporting paperwork!" Each section, or ward, of the hospital had its own check-in area.

She was writing all of this down. Good, because I sure as hell wasn't repeating a damn word. And I think she knew that.

"I have a list of all other staff for the hospital," she told me, rummaging in a drawer and pulling out the paper like it was a golden medal. To us, it was more than that.

"Great! You're on top of things here, then! Start calling in back up, and keep doing so throughout the night as needed!"

By the end of our conversation the room was cleared, the noise level diminishing. I pulled on a pair of scrubs, and slipped off my dirty gloves. The clock ticked to the beat of my heart, which throbbed throughout my entire being. I ran down the hallway to the Northern ward and was down on the first patient my eyes grabbed hold of when I entered the room. Literally, I was on top of him, turning him on his side as you were supposed to do when someone had a seizure.

I managed to save the young boy, and many others also as I assisted this most tiresome group. I hoped we could save as many as possible. I wonder what the hell could have happened to cause such a chaotic display here? My best guess was that we were attacked by a hidden village, but I hadn't heard anything from anyone about conflict with a neighboring village, so how could that have come about?

And where was the Hokage?

A woman dressed in a yellow sundress walked in to the room, and she stepped in behind the desk, at once beginning to fill out patient information and handing them to the hands of doctors who desperately needed them. I continued to work, relieved that someone had finally come to help organize files. My main worry was that everyone would be so frazzled by this display of blood and dying men and women, that they would speed up their pace and forget the procedures that had been drilled into their brains from their novice year as a medic. And if things as small as switching patient information clipboards occurred in the confused and tremulous environment...

It would lead to even more deaths.

I shook my head, and set back to work, diving into the challenge of reviving as many people as possible.

* * *

My second hour into our hellish night, and it was visible that everyone was tiring, and with good reason. There was blood everywhere, and medical tools sprawled on wheeled tables around the room. We had set up our main base in the waiting room. The lives we held so carefully in our hands couldn't wait to be moved into a room to be saved. It just wasn't possible, although I wish it was. That was the one thing that I had to leave be, because I knew that it couldn't be fixed into an organized fashion. Whoever we managed to save was wheeled into a private room, and hooked up to their own machines while our back up nurses sat and watched over them.

Soldier pills that fell earlier in the game rolled across the white tile every time someone rushed past, although no one besides me must have noticed them. They all put their heads together and worked hard as they only saw one fixed point through their blood shot eyes. They saw only the patients before them, and heard only the thumping hearts they desperately forced to continue to beat.

I hadn't gotten a chance yet to take a few pills of my own, but then again I didn't exactly need them at the moment. I could easily go another hour and a half before my chakra levels were in need of a boost. And I was working with a savvy air that I noticed some medics didn't have. When I went up to a patient, I healed as much as possible not with my chakra, but with the tools and medications around me. The most dire injuries I injected a boost of my green chakra to heal. In this way I conserved more than I wasted, while others just pored and pored their energy into every wound they came in contact with.

My previous fear had proven to come to sight, as a medic whose name was Tai -Lin made one of the stupidest mistakes, a mistake that would have cost a life if I hadn't flicked my eyes up and seen what was happening.

I moved her to an empty room, although it wouldn't stay empty for long because even as I yelled at Tai-Lin more injured were being brought in by Anbu.

"I can't believe you did that!" I practuaclly growled in frustration. She looked equally pissed, her red hair and face outlined in darkness in the dim room. She resembled a feline, the way her eyes were brighter than the rest of her features.

"It was an accident," she hissed out quietly.

Our tempers flared. "I don't give a rat's ass about accidents at this moment. This is the time when accidents absolutely can't occur, and even on regular nights they shouldn't. If you took the time to make the mistake, _then you need to leave," _I huffed out, " before someone else is almost killed by your actions."

She left in a hurry, and I caught sight of her tears on her way out. I felt hollow, after that. Hollow and tired, and sad. Numb.

I moved out of the room, and replaced the switched clipboards to their right full positions.

Chonin called for me to take a patient to a room, and I moved as quick as ever, even though I felt dead on my feet. I grabbed onto the hospital bed, and wheeled it down the hall to a back room. When I opened the door and slid past with the patient, I almost fell over in surprise.

Deidara lay in this room, asleep.

My stomach churned, and my head swam in a sudden wave of nausea, which surprisingly wasn't from him. It must have been from all the body heat, and all of the patients I took on throughout the course of the night.

Where were the Anbu that were supposed to watch him? Why were they absent?

I couldn't possibly leave anyone in the same room with him, no matter the condition he was in. Opening the door once again, I wheeled the bed out and into a different room.

My feet, they had a mind of their own as they took me back to his room. I paused in the doorway, and then slowly I reached up and turned the knob, entering silently and moving towards his body.

It was astonishing, what they had done to restore his body. Sure, he had a few burn scars on his neck, and a number of bandages on his head. And I was positive their were even more throughout his body, but I wasn't just going to throw off his covers and take a peak...Even If I wanted to.

His face was clear again, all pink and rosy with new skin. His hair was even growing back nice and quick, it lay flat and golden on his forehead, hanging above his eyebrows, which had also re-grown nicely.

I didn't know what I was doing. I must have been in some sort of trance watching him quietly. I wasn't positive how long I had been there, but his eyes fluttered and opened out of nowhere, and I startled.

We looked at each other, emerald piercing against sky blue. He opened his mouth, breath escaping as he formed whispered words. They were so quiet I had to lean forward and tell him in a stammered manner to repeat them.

"Water," he said.

I complied, and gave him a couple of sips, watching how he soon enough closed his eyes. His breathing became regular. He slept, and I slowly made my way out of the room, not yet sure of what had just occurred, and also confused about the feelings rolling inside my body.

I breathed for a second, clearing my head, and then once again set to work.

* * *

After two hours and forty-five minutes, everything took a change of pace. The sheer terror and death that lingered on everyone in the hospital began to drift away, like the last remnants of a song. It could barely be felt.

I removed my once sterile white gloves and tossed them in the trash can, noticing how the blood seeped through them and coated my hands in a thin pink layer. I shuddered as I scrubbed the crusty blood from underneath my nails. No matter how long I had been in this practice, by the end of the night the sight and the metallic smell of the blood always got to me. My arms were also dotted with blood, as well as my neck, so I swiped them with a paper towel that had soap squirted onto it.

Walking out of the bathroom, I felt purely disgusting. The clack of a familiar pair of heels grabbed my weary attention.

"Tsunade! Shizune!" I didn't even know where to begin with those two. The questions and concerns I had all fought to the surface of my mind, causing me to scramble for something to say. Anything to say. I couldn't seem to function, just standing in the middle of the hallway watching them, unsure.

"Let's take a walk to a break room, so we can sit down and inform you of what has happened," Shizune told me. I complied, following in earnest.

Tsunade planted a cup of steaming brown coffee in front of me at the break room's plastic table. The smell of it was heavenly. A better way to get energy than soldier pills, and it also tasted like bittersweet richness. Ino always tried to get me to quit drinking this. She said it tasted like burnt food and acted as if I had a smoking problem. Ha!

Glancing up, I broke the eery silence. "What...? What has happened tonight? Where were you too? Why isn't there anyone gaurding Deidara?"

Tsunade put her head in her hands. "Tonight," she voiced, "has been utter _hell_."

"Yes," I said more than a little sardonically. "_That_ answered my questions. Right on the dot."

Shizune put her hand on Tsunade's shoulder, taking over the explaining for now. "Two kilometers from our central gates, a team of patrolling Leaf ninja spotted dark movement in the trees. A second into taking a further look they were ambushed by hidden ninja. They wore no forehead protectors, and were clothed only in black, from wrists to ankles. Nothing in appearance or in fighting skills led us to think of where they came from."

"Identity unknown," I muttered into my cup.

Tsunade took over, lifting her head. "They killed the ominous ninja, and reported the incident to the main base. Thirty minutes later an army attacked Kohona forces outside the village."

"Basically," Shizune said while swiping her hand through the air as she spoke, "a ton of Kohona ninja were defeated tonight in a battle...but we're not sure of who we were fighting. All of the ninja in the army were powerful, but they all dressed like those first few who ambushed our patrols. And they fought the same way."

"This entire matter is exhausting," Tsunade muttered. "Now we have to find out just who attacked us...and why. Damn it."

I grimaced. That explained the entire hospital set up. "But what about Deidara?" I questioned.

They winced. In unison. "We had to spare the chance of him escaping - "

"Although I highly doubt he would have," Shizune said dryly,rolling her eyes.

" - in order for as many Anbu as possible to assist our battle."

I nodded. "And Sasuke? He had the same treatment?"

Tsunade rubbed her face. "Yes." She ordered Shizune to send Anbu teams to the men's rooms, and when Shizune left Tsunade poured a cup of coffee for herself.

"You know," I chirped, "we have enemy bodies to analyze."

She grimaced at my tone, but otherwise looking determined. "Yes, we do. Those enemy bodies will help us figure out exactly _who_it was that attacked Kohona tonight. I want to get to the bottom of this, find these bastards..." She was practically growling.

I sighed, understanding how she felt. Whoever did this would regret it when Tsunade got her hands around their throat. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said, standing and preparing for more work. "I got to get back to those patients."

"Just go home, you'll kill yourself if you waste anymore chakra. Your reserves are almost completely drained."

I hesitated, but then agreed when she said she would take over.

On my way out the door, I thought of something and turned around. "Hey, when will we start the questioning on him?" My stomach rolled, a million ocean waves crashing. I leaned against the door frame and wiped my clammy palms on my shirt, anticipating her answer.

She thought about it for a minute. "In two days I think we'll transport Deidara to interrogation and begin. Goodnight Sakura."

I left, my head pounding and my stomach tied in knots. If I would have eaten earlier that night I would have puked right then, on the white tiled hallway floor. I didn't want to be a part of this interrogation. Sure, I was a tough ninja. I've killed before, and there were certain instances where I've been involved in massacres...but this. This felt wrong to me. It weighed pounds on my conscience to be the medic in charge of reviving Deidara every time the torturing was about to kill him.

Could I do it? Kami, I hoped so, or else I would look like a coward, and Tsunade wouldn't be happy.

On my way out I checked all the patients rooms. I could be so paranoid and OCD sometimes, it was ridiculous. But I knew I wouldn't sleep easy if I didn't check.

I passed by Deidara's room on my way down the hallway, and the door was left ajar, no Anbu in sight. He was sitting up in his bed, his feet dangling over the side. His head was bent and his shoulder length straight hair hung in his eyes. His foot moved forward.

He didn't see me coming, or if he did he was too slow to react.

The bed frame rattled when his body pounded into it, my hand enclosed around his throat. "Were you trying to escape?" I frantically asked, panting hard. After everything that happened tonight, even something as small as jumping a person exerted my energy and left me exhausted.

His eyes locked onto mine, and strangely left me squirming, although_ I_ was the one pinning _him_ down. He was relaxed, his lean body not tensed in the slightest way. "No," he answered curtly in a deep voice. "I wasn't. All I was getting up for was to use the bathroom."

I narrowed my eyes at him, my face the perfect image of a feral cat. But on the inside I was contemplating what he said. Why wouldn't he want to escape? He had the perfect opportunity, the ideal chance to get up and break free from all of this. I asked him these questions.

"I have no interest in attempting to escape right now," was his only reply before he went quiet again, staring calmly and directly into my eyes.

"But why not? Surely you understand what's going to happen to you? What's going to come for you isn't going to be good..." My voice expressed my concern over this strange man, more concern than I should have had for a S-class criminal and former Akatsuki member. I chastised myself for not keeping my emotions in check, because no doubt he must have heard it in my voice.

I was right, he could obviously tell I was worried. "Why do you care, hmm? I don't even know you, kunoichi."

I gave his throat a squeeze, and even without chakra enhancing my strength he still hissed and turned his head to the side in an attempt to rid himself of the discomfort. I ignored his comment. "Next time you better not pull something like that or the Anbu will gut you."

His own eyes narrowed, and his hand flashed towards my chest but I blocked it with my free arm. I was forced to let go of his neck, clutching his arms and bracing them over his head. My face leaned towards his, my teeth showing as I hissed, "Stop, or someone will hear us and you'll be in deep shit, idiot."

His lips were in that thin line some guys have when they get angry. "Then you'll be in trouble too, because they'll hear us having a conversation and question your loyalties. And what the fuck are you doing? Hmm? I myself wonder how loyal you are to this village when you're aiding the prisoner." His eyes sparkled with something unknown. Hidden.

I huffed. "I know exactly where my loyalty stands, and it's definitely not with _you_, Akatsuki."

He smirked. "I haven't been part of that organization for a while."

His body moved under mine when he said that, shifting his position on the bed, and I promptly realized just how I was holding him down. I was low on my knees, my legs straddling his waist. My upper torso fit next to his, just barely brushing against his chest. I was too close.

I made some noise as I jumped away from him, acting for the life of me like a complete idiot. I _was_ a complete idiot. What the hell was I doing?

He got up, rubbing his neck. We looked at each other, me not knowing what to do until I heard voices from down the hall.

I listened. They were getting closer, coming in our direction. _Shit. _If they saw me in here without being ordered to... I don't know what I would tell them, or what they would think about this.

But, I needed to heal Deidara's neck. I could already see in my mind what would happen if I didn't. No doubt it would bruise, and a new wound would give away that someone was in here. Tsunade would question it, wondering if it was an Anbu who did it, and what Deidara did to make the Anbu do it. And when no one would tell her she'd look into everything, eventually finding out that it was me.

I rushed over, hand flying out. He never tensed. He was smart, already understanding what needed to be done. I healed him in two seconds flat, and whispered out that if he said anything about my presence in this room I would find him and crush his jewels. He smirked, and agreed, although he never looked frightened.

The voices were louder, and I could begin to hear their footfalls. I couldn't go out the door, obviously, so I tried the window, and paniced when It had bars on it to prevent Deidara from escaping into the night.

"Fuck," I whispered to myself, "fuck!"

"Closet, yeah?"

I nodded at him, my heart going crazy and my palms on fire from the sweat. Even worse, just as I got close to the empty closet that was my refuge, the door handle turned. I jumped away from it quickly as it was opening, and grabbed the glass of water on the counter that was sitting there from earlier.

"I know. It was the most ridic - Oh! Lady Sakura!"

I turned from where I was rinsing out the glass by the sink, my face composed and the sweat that previously covered my hands concealed by the flow of water from the faucet. I feigned surprise. "Kami! What are you two doing here?"

Shit. I already knew what the Anbu were doing here. Why was I being so stupid? Would they notice, and think something of it?

"Assigned to guard this bastard," rumbled a male voice behind the mask of a hawk.

"Yeah," the first chirped. "Shizune came and found us and told us to report here immediately.

"Ah," was all I could muster before turning my back. I tried not to tense up when they asked what I was doing in the prisoner's room.

"Well, I was just leaving from all this chaos when I passed by his room," I nodded in Deidara's direction, noting how he was "sleeping", "and noticed that his door was cracked open. It must have been one of the nurses who opened it earlier in all of the confusion." I babbled like a crazy idiot, but of course I _was_ a crazy idiot.

"Anyways! I saw that the prisoner needed water, so I was just rinsing out this cup to give him some."

They looked over to see him sleeping and turned back to me, curious and bewildered. "Oh! Heh, he must have fallen asleep, I guess." I shrugged, looking as innocent as possible, and although they looked a little suspicious they fell for everything.

"Goodnight, Lady Sakura!"

"Night, take care and be safe," I said over my shoulder as I bustled out of there.

Things had dwindled down in the hospital, the way water settles after a dam bursts. I said my good byes to some of the medics, and then grabbed my purse and another steaming cup of coffee. Then I was out the door, squinting a little at the first few rays of dawn.

A breeze whispered through the morning air, snagging my hair in a playful manner. I scooped it up, out of the hands of the mischievous wind, and tied it tight on top of my head in a ponytail. It still reached just above my belly button, and the wind still ruffled it.

I liked my hair long, and liked how when it was long you could clearly see all of the different shades of pink that went along with my hair, which you couldn't see before when it was short. Cutting it short was a true statement on my part, but letting it grow out was also one. Before, I wanted people to know that I was strong, that I could make sacrifices, that I wasn't _weak._ But as my hair began growing out I decided I didn't want to cut it. Having long hair didn't seem stupid or petty to me anymore. Sure, I stuck out like a sore thumb when going on missions, but who cares? I could easily take care of myself. I liked my hair long because even though I was known as one of the strongest ninja in this village, I could still keep something close to me that was feminine.

The streets were dead, no stirrings of life found anywhere. Even when I walked through my door Shickers was sleeping on the couch, never even peeping an eye open at my presence. I kicked off my shoes and put my purse and coffee on the table before going to my room and passing out in my bed.

I was dead to the world.

* * *

_Popprincess.57_


End file.
